[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 25, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S80-S81]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, on Monday, January 17, our Nation once
again celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a
national holiday. Signed into law in 1983, the bill to make Dr. King's
birthday a legal public holiday was the result of a 15-year legislative
effort.
Although I was not a Member of the Congress at the time, I remember
well the national debate and eventually the overwhelming support this
legislation engendered. For the Senate pages on the floor today, for
their entire lifetimes, Dr. King's birthday has been a Federal holiday.
But they and all young Americans should know the passage of that law
was not certain and not without controversy at the time.
I was the speaker of the Maryland house of delegates in the 1980s
when the State of Maryland took up legislation to make Dr. King's
birthday a State holiday, and we were one of several States that passed
State laws to make Dr. King's birthday a holiday. As the federalism
system works, as more States got engaged in this issue, the momentum at
the national level became very apparent. And for the importance of this
day and its message to Americans, the Congress finally enacted
legislation in 1983.
This holiday, which has appropriately come to be known as a day of
service, would not have happened without the leadership of former
Senator Charles Mathias of Maryland. I am very proud of the work
Senator Mathias did on this issue and so many issues that were
important to the opportunities for all Americans. I also want to
acknowledge the work of former Representative Katie Hall of Indiana.
They were the authors of the 1983 legislation. This holiday also would
not have happened without the work of Representatives John Lewis and
John Conyers, who have dedicated their lives to social justice. Also, I
might add, without the work of our former colleague, Senator Ted
Kennedy, this bill would never have become law. I congratulate all of
them for their work.
Serving in the Senate today are colleagues whom I would also like to
thank for their efforts to enact this legislation, the 1983 King
holiday bill. Six of the thirty-four sponsors are still in the Senate
today, including Senator Baucus, Senator Bingaman, Senator Inouye,
Senator Lautenberg, Senator Levin, and Senator Lugar, as well as the
president of the Senate, Vice President Joe Biden. Moreover, five
Senators who were Members of the House of Representatives at the time
were original cosponsors of the companion bill, H.R. 3706, which became
law. They are Majority Leader Reid, Senators Akaka, Boxer, Mikulski,
and Schumer. I thank them all for their leadership and vision in the
1980s as to the importance of making this holiday a remembrance to Dr.
Martin Luther King.
Twenty years before its enactment, in August of 1963 on the steps of
the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King delivered what is his most well-known
speech, in which he called for racial equality and social justice for
all Americans.
In honor of Dr. King's birthday, I ask unanimous consent that the
text of that speech be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
``I Have a Dream''
(By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
``I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in
history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the
history of our nation.
``Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic
shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to
millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of
withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the
long night of their captivity.
``But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly
crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of
discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a
lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is
still languished in the corners of American society and finds
himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here
today to dramatize a shameful condition.
``In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a
check. When the architects of our republic wrote the
magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which
every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that
all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be
guaranteed the `unalienable Rights' of `Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.' It is obvious today that America has
defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of
color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred
obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a
check which has come back marked `insufficient funds.'
``But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is
bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient
funds in the great
[[Page S81]]
vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to
cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the
riches of freedom and the security of justice.
``We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America
of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in
the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug
of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of
democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate
valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of
racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the
time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
``It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency
of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's
legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an
invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-
three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that
the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content
will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business
as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in
America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.
The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the
foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice
emerges.
``But there is something that I must say to my people, who
stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of
justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we
must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to
satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle
on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not
allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical
violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic
heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
``The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro
community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people,
for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their
presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny
is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize
that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
``We cannot walk alone.
``And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall
always march ahead.
``We cannot turn back.
``There are those who are asking the devotees of civil
rights, `When will you be satisfied?' We can never be
satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the
unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be
satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of
travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and
the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as
the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a
larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children
are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity
by signs stating: `For Whites Only.' We cannot be satisfied
as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in
New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no,
we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until
`justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a
mighty stream.'
``I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of
great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh
from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas
where your quest--quest for freedom left you battered by the
storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police
brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering.
Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is
redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go
back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to
Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern
cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be
changed.
``Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you
today, my friends.
``And so even though we face the difficulties of today and
tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted
in the American dream.
``I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and
live out the true meaning of its creed: `We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'
``I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.
``I have a dream that one day even the state of
Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice,
sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed
into an oasis of freedom and justice.
``I have a dream that my four little children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color
of their skin but by the content of their character.
``I have a dream today!
``I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its
vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping
with the words of `interposition' and `nullification'--one
day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls
will be able to join hands with little white boys and white
girls as sisters and brothers.
``I have a dream today!
``I have a dream that one day every valley shall be
exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the
rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will
be made straight; `and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed and all flesh shall see it together.'
``This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to
the South with.
``With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the
mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will
be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into
a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will
be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle
together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom
together, knowing that we will be free one day.
``And this will be the day--this will be the day when all
of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
`` `My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee
I sing.
`` `Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's
pride,
`` `From every mountainside, let freedom ring!'
``And if America is to be a great nation, this must become
true.
``And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of
New Hampshire.
``Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
``Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.
``Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of
Colorado.
``Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of
California.
``But not only that:
``Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
``Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
``Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of
Mississippi.
``From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
``And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when
we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from
every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that
day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews
and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join
hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
`` `Free at last! Free at last!
`` `Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' ''
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the
absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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